"Your physical talent is excellent, and you're learning basketball skills very quickly. I believe it won't be long before you become a starter on the school basketball team..."
Although his appearance had changed to eighteen years old, Mark, whose inner self remained unchanged, thoroughly enjoyed this time spent with his son.
Unconsciously, he had once again slipped into the role of a "father."
"Can I really do it?" Alex's face lit up with surprise.
He hadn't noticed anything strange about his "friend"; instead, he was simply overjoyed to be praised by Mark, one of the two main players on the school basketball team.
"Of course, I never lie!" Mark habitually smiled and ruffled his son's head, continuing, "But basketball isn't everything for you. On weekends like this, you should spend more time communicating with your family..."
"How about this: you go get the baseball and gloves, and I'll go call Maggie and Scarlett. We'll go outside together for a family baseball game."
Mark unilaterally organized a "family activity," and incidentally, he also wanted to find an opportunity during the activity to explain to his wife that he wasn't an illegitimate child.
This action was abrupt, but if Mark's identity was considered to be Mike O'Donnell's, his behavior would be much easier to understand.
On the other side, Alex didn't realize anything was amiss. In his memory, his father often organized such "family activities" when he was younger.
It was only as he grew older that these parent-child activities gradually decreased, and eventually stopped being organized altogether.
"OK, I'll go to the storage room to get the equipment..."
After a cheer, Alex happily ran towards the storage room.
Severely lacking in fatherly love, he probably didn't even realize that, at times, he had come to regard this friend, who was like an elder brother, as a father.
Watching his son leave childishly, Mark smiled and shook his head, then walked towards his daughter Maggie's room.
If Mark occasionally had a headache over his son's timid personality, then his daughter Maggie's infatuation problem was what truly gave him a headache.
But today, Mark wasn't too keen on dealing with his children's issues; he just wanted to organize a family activity properly and then resolve the "illegitimate child" misunderstanding with his wife during the activity.
"It's quite tidy, isn't it?"
Arriving at his daughter's room, Mark didn't see Maggie, so he took a brief look around.
Looking at the neatly arranged room, Mark, this "father," felt very pleased.
"Hmm, what's this...?" Just as Mark was about to leave, he noticed a diary spread open on his daughter's desk.
Wanting to understand his daughter better, he couldn't resist picking up the diary.
The first half of the diary contained entries about "little girl troubles" and similar trivial thoughts.
It was very amusing, and Mark couldn't help but show a doting expression on his face.
However, once the dates reached her college years, Mike's name was written all over the diary.
'Could it be that in my daughter's heart, Mike, who took a long leave of over a month at the start of the semester, is really that attractive?'
Mark's expression gradually turned serious, feeling a sense of helplessness, like his carefully nurtured cabbage was about to be devoured by a pig.
It wasn't until a "short story" about his daughter and that handsome Mike appeared in the diary that Mark became enraged.
With explicit scene descriptions, this was no short story; it was clearly an extremely wishful thinking pornographic book.
"Damn Mike!"
Although he knew it was his daughter's infatuation, Mark, unwilling to believe his daughter would be like this, ultimately blamed Mike.
It was all because the other person was too handsome, and also because he "attracted bees and butterflies"...
This father, who grew angrier the more he thought about it in his daughter's room, finally couldn't help but slam the desk.
"What are you doing!!!"
It was at this moment that Mark, engrossed in his personal emotions, was suddenly startled by his daughter's voice.
He turned his head to see his daughter Maggie staring at him angrily from the doorway.
A moment of guilt... panic... incomprehension... and other complex emotions intertwined, ultimately transforming into a father's rage.
"What's going on with this diary? You're a girl, why would you do something like this?" Anger turned into accusation. Mark couldn't care less about anything else; he just wanted to correct his daughter's strange mindset.
However, he completely misunderstood the situation. A young girl in the prime of her life, having her diary secretly read by another "unfamiliar" man, had no mood to listen to his lecture.
"How dare you enter my room without my permission and rummage through my things!" Maggie looked very agitated and rushed over to snatch back her notebook.
"I..." Mark was momentarily speechless. He then realized that, having transformed into an eighteen-year-old, he was not her father in his daughter's eyes.
Nevertheless, he still had to say, "Even if I'm not anyone to you, I can't just watch you continue to make mistakes."
"Make mistakes? How dare you criticize me? You're not my dad!" Maggie was almost in tears, arguing, "Even if you were my dad, you couldn't secretly read my diary without permission!"
...
"What happened?"
The loud argument attracted Mrs. Scarlett, who had just returned to her room to calm down.
Seeing her daughter's tearful and wronged expression, she stepped forward, gently hugged the girl, and then both of them stared at Mark.
"I, I didn't mean to..." Stared at by his wife's stern gaze, Mark felt a bit pressured and subconsciously lowered his tone to explain, "It's Maggie, she actually wrote pornographic stories about herself and other boys in her diary..."
Scarlett also noticed at this point that her daughter was tightly clutching a diary in her arms.
Sharing her daughter's sentiment, Scarlett also disapproved of looking through someone else's private diary without permission.
Therefore, she didn't listen to what Mark said next, but instead condemned, "As an outsider, you shouldn't interfere with our family matters. Please leave now; our family does not welcome impolite people."
At this point, the woman's good impression of Mark, along with the slight, irrational fantasies she had earlier, were all suppressed.
Facing his wife's cold expression, Mark, with his eighteen-year-old face, truly felt that he and she were no longer a family.
And he also had no standing to "educate" his daughter.
"What's going on? Are we still playing baseball later?" Alex, who had excitedly gone to the storage room to find equipment, now arrived on the scene with the baseball and gloves.
"Mark secretly read your sister's diary without permission," Scarlett explained the gist of the matter to her son.
At the same time, she subtly reminded him to be cautious when making friends.
"This..." Alex stared at his friend in disbelief for a long time. Seeing that the other party never refuted, he silently retreated behind his mother and sister.
Indeed, the two O'Donnell children, despite some character flaws under their mother's upbringing, still had quite upright values.
At this point, Mark truly became an "outsider." He opened his mouth several times, trying to explain again. However, he also knew that if he didn't reveal his identity, the three opposite him probably wouldn't listen to anything he said.
But the matter of returning to eighteen years old was too incredible. Even if he told them, Scarlett and the other two certainly wouldn't believe it; they would only think Mark was making up stories.
So, the situation had reached a dead end.
"I'm sorry, I apologize to Maggie for my previous actions, I'm sorry." Mark chose to leave temporarily to let everyone calm down. Before leaving, he continued, "And Scarlett, I apologize for disturbing you today. As for Alex, we'll play together again when we have time next..."
After speaking, Mark prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Scarlett frowned and called out to him, saying sternly, "You should call me Auntie. It was my oversight before, please pay attention in the future. Also, if possible, please stay away from my two children from now on. They are not as mature as you..."
Yes, in Scarlett's eyes, all of Mark's previous strange behaviors were categorized as maturity.
This also explained why, at her age, she had felt a slight, unique attraction to an eighteen-year-old boy before.
Of course, these were Scarlett's personal perceptions.
"I'll pay attention... Scarlett, Auntie." Mark, who had thought there might still be a turn of events, turned and left dejectedly upon hearing his wife's ultimatum.
He was a bit confused now and needed to go back and sort out his feelings properly.
"Wait," Scarlett called out to Mark once more, staring at his face repeatedly, and finally said, "I don't care what your relationship is with my husband O'Donnell, but if possible, please tell him that I will officially file for divorce in court next weekend. Whether he comes or not is up to him."
...
Meanwhile, as Mark returned to his rich second-generation friend's house in a daze, Mike, who was in the Fifth Avenue commercial district, had also finished his shopping trip with Connie and others.
At this moment, everyone was carrying large and small bags, including Needy.
Paige, in particular, wore a cute Christmas hat on her head, which looked very adorable with the girl's displeased expression.
"Thank you for the treat, Mike. John and I are going home now," Connie thoroughly enjoyed today's activities, having experienced almost all the eating, drinking, and playing.
Now she only wanted to complete the last item: to spend an unforgettable time alone with Dr. Sturgis.
After seeing off the radiant Dr. Sturgis and his companion, George also bid farewell, "You spent a lot today, Mike. When you return to Texas someday, I'll prepare some special brisket for you."
Mike, who was no longer short on dollar, said that if he promised to pay for all the expenses today, he would definitely follow through.
This generous act made George feel a bit embarrassed. Who would have thought that in New York, a pair of Christmas gloves would cost over a hundred dollar?
George, who was used to living a "hard" life, had his eyes opened today. At the same time, he realized that he owed the other party an even greater favor.
Therefore, unaccustomed to owing favors, he was already thinking about how to find an opportunity to reciprocate.
"Then I'll look forward to your brisket," Mike, who wasn't thinking that far ahead, responded with a smile.
Then, after arranging a car to send George away, he also took several sets of special Christmas lady costumes and rushed back to the villa.
The timing was just right now; after dinner, he could let Regina and the others try on the clothes to see if they fit.